Edward Pensock always wanted to be a cowboy. He traveled the country over a 20-year Air Force career, finally settling in San Antonio and getting his wish.

After many years as a Texan, he died Tuesday of brain cancer. He was 76.

Pensock attended Penn State University, where he majored in accounting and was a member of the ROTC. He joined the Air Force afterward and was stationed at several military bases around the nation, including in New York, Maine and Michigan.

While in Michigan, he earned a master's degree in accounting from Michigan State University, and he served two tours in Guam, working as an accountant and auditor.

Pensock was last stationed at Randolph AFB, an assignment he was more than happy to receive.

“I think in his heart he wanted to be a cowboy, so he was delighted to move to San Antonio,” said Pensock's wife, Barbara. “He loved country music. He was Johnny Cash's biggest fan.”

While stationed at Randolph, Pensock flew to the Pentagon on a monthly basis for military personnel matters.

When his military career ended in 1979, Pensock got a job as a senior auditor at LoVaca Gathering Co., which became Valero Energy Corp. In a retirement letter from the company, William Greehey, the chairman of Valero at the time, wrote, “He was the only person to ever get to work before me.”

“That really made him happy,” Barbara Pensock said. “He was always on time.”

Pensock taught accounting courses at San Antonio College for many years. He was a member of Michigan State's Alumni Association and was a significant donor to his alma mater, Penn State. He has a brick with his name on it on the Alumni Courtyard.

“(Coach) Joe Paterno started there while he was still in school,” Barbara Pensock said. “Education helped him achieve a milestone in the family. He was the first person in his immediate family to get a higher education.”

Barbara Pensock said one of her husband's hobbies was grilling and that he always wore a watch around his neck to time the food just right. He was a big fan of Indy car racing and the driver Al Unser Jr.

Barbara Pensock also recalled, “He always kept a snow shovel, and he would use it for leaves and stuff. Friends and neighbors would always tease him. He would say, ‘You don't have to shovel sunshine.'”